Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah and King Elbas left the region without looking back. Their conversation had concerned only the exchange of resources, but the two of them had understood a lot about their respective personality nonetheless.

King Elbas had learnt how sharp Noah could be outside of a battlefield. He wouldn't fear anyone as long as he had some leverage. He wouldn't flinch even if a god stood in his way if he knew how to exploit the situation to his advantage.

Noah had seen how the leader of the Royals was more than just arrogance. He was an expert entirely dedicated to his field of expertise. His experiments covered every aspect of the cultivation journey, and he had achieved great things in each one of them.

King Elbas' arrogance came from his results. He knew exactly how amazing he was, and he couldn't help but feel superior to any other force in the world. His only mistake was being born after Shandal and God's Right Hand.

Noah's mind kept on playing King Elbas' answer to the question related to the higher energy. The Patriarch of the Elbas family was so selfless about his research that he had purposely provided his study to a potential enemy.

He didn't care that Noah could use the higher energy against him one day. He had to see how the darkness element evolved, even if that put him in danger.

Noah's respect for such a determined opponent couldn't help but increase. The two of them belonged to the same type of cultivators. They were the monsters that regular labels failed to comprehend.

Black versions of the elements floated in Noah's palm as he flew back to the nearest teleportation matrix. Fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and darkness rotated on his hand and exchanged part of their fabric. Still, they never fused.

'I need my light,' Noah thought. His enlightenment over other elements came when he saw them expressed in ways that reflected his individuality or after being in contact with them for a long time. He couldn't force that process. It had to be a natural understanding.

His fire came from Ravaging Demon's destruction, water from the Divine Stele's enlightening properties, earth from Chasing Demon's life, wind from the Ape God's anger, and lightning from the Heaven Tribulation. The dark matter represented the darkness element, but Noah had yet to find something that could complete his understanding of those types of energy.

Daniel's individuality couldn't work. The two of them were too different, and even their goals went in opposite directions.

Noah wanted everything, both destruction and creation. He strived for the power to create and destroy matter because his ambition didn't allow him to aim any lower. Instead, Daniel wanted purity. He pursued the simplest but most potent form in everything, even himself.

Both paths led to power, but that was their only common feature. Moreover, Noah's felt an innate disgust toward the light element, which made it even harder for him to lose himself in its fabric.

Noah returned to his temporary training area in the new continent's central regions. He dug another cave while waiting for the Elbas family to comply with their part of the agreement.

The Royals' inscription masters had to make copies of thousands of scrolls, studies, and techniques. The process would take a while. Still, Noah wasn't in a hurry. He had to wait for King Elbas to leave the surface anyway.

That was the only uncertainty in Noah's plan. He didn't fear the defenses of the Royal Academy, but he had no way to confirm King Elbas' departure without putting himself in danger.

His only option was to predict how long the Patriarch of the Elbas family would take to make the necessary preparations and decide to explore the sea of magma.

Noah didn't mind waiting, but he had to consider June in his plan.

They had agreed that she wouldn't return to the Elbas family's territories until the mission started. Nevertheless, she was a battle maniac, and staying put wasn't in her style. Her individuality might suffer if Noah waited too much before making his move.

Noah meditated and cultivated. His focus was on the light element and his spells. Noah's improvements were slow without the dark star pushing his mind to its limits, even if immensely faster than cultivators without the Divine Deduction technique.

All his diagrams went through the same process as the Merging spell. His mind broke them down to their core ideas and rebuilt their structure after confirming that they could suit his individuality.

Some goods began to arrive from the Elbas family. That batch of resources saw only techniques and spells in the human ranks, but Noah analyzed them nonetheless.

He didn't need strong abilities anymore. His interest lingered on core ideas that suited his needs and existences so that he could create skills meant for him.

A sudden message came while he was busy sorting through thousands of scrolls and books. Faith contacted him, asking to settle the restlessness that was building inside the Council.

Noah had publicly announced that he had found the Kesier species, but his decision to set up a meeting with King Elbas without considering his allies had created some tension.

Noah would usually delegate those matters to the Elders of the Hive. The political environment had never interested him, and he had already obtained what he needed.

Moreover, the Hive could use the Kesier species to gain more resources, so he didn't mind leaving the matter to the other higher-ups.

However, Faith had managed to convince the Council to offer something that could benefit him. The resources in its proposal didn't appeal to his element nor his hybrid status. It wanted to intrigue his expertise as a swordsman.

It was rare for cultivators to use martial arts, and they completely disappeared among existences in the fifth rank and above. Yet, the Council had found traces left by divine beings that appeared connected to those techniques.

Noah stopped sorting through his piles of abilities to travel toward the part of the mountain chain that ended on the northern coast. It didn't take much for him to reach that region since the Hive and the Council had established a thick array of matrices that connected the two domains.

Faith welcomed him once appeared at his destination. Tall mountains filled his view, and large pagodas stood on their sides. Countless heroic cultivators sat cross-legged on those buildings' balconies and roofs and stared at something hidden between the peaks.

Other Elders joined Faith in her warm welcome, and the group eventually led Noah toward the pagodas where he could see the reason behind the cultivators' focus.

The mountains had seen many excavations in that area, but their purpose was to enlighten a fissure on one of them that radiated an ancient aura.

The dark star in Noah's chest spun faster as his consciousness went on the fissure. Its smooth edges had survived the passage of time, and not even a crack had appeared on their surface.

It was as if the fissure carried traces of eternity. It resembled a mark in Heaven and Earth's world that not even time could erase.